Orange, caramelised fennel and goat's cheese salad
Sherry & orange caramelised fennel with goat's cheese, an indulgent salad. You can serve this on its own, or with other Spanish bits – jamón ibérico de bellota (if you are pushing the boat out), Ortiz anchovies, slices of fried morcilla – but keep it simple. The meal is already quite rich; overcomplication will spoil it. Make the fennel in advance and serve it at room temperature, though hold back the cheese, hazelnuts and the last flourish of extra-virgin olive oil until just before serving.
From Diana Henry's book, How to Eat a Peach, (Mitchell Beazley, £25).
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 6
Ingredients
Ingredients
Preparation
Method
Step 1
Put the fennel seeds in a mortar and bash them a bit with the pestle, just to bruise them.
Step 2
Put the nuts in a dry frying pan, place over a medium heat and toast them, stirring frequently, until they turn a shade darker and smell toasted. Set aside.
Step 3
Trim the tips of the fennel bulbs, removing and reserving any little feathery fronds you see. Quarter the bulbs lengthways and remove the coarse outer leaves. Cut each piece in half again lengthways.
Step 4
Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the extra-virgin olive oil. Cook the fennel pieces over a medium-high heat on each side until golden (about 4 minutes); keep moving them around the pan to colour them more or less evenly.
Step 5
Add 125ml of the sherry and the fennel seeds, then reduce the heat, cover the pan and cook for about 7 minutes. Now pour in the orange juice and cook for another 7 minutes or so. You want the fennel to be tender but not collapsing (the wedges should keep their shape). Increase the heat, uncover the pan and cook until the juices have almost completely disappeared.
Step 6
Add the sugar to the pan and cook for about 30 seconds, turning the fennel pieces over, or until slightly caramelised. Add the rest of the sherry along with most of the orange zest and some salt and black pepper, and cook – again turning the wedges – until the sherry has reduced and the wedges are coated and glossy, but not too dark.
Step 7
Remove the fennel to a serving plate. When you are ready to serve it, sprinkle
it with the goats’ cheese, hazelnuts, remaining orange zest and the reserved fennel fronds, then finish with more extra-virgin olive oil.
